DA: Parole denied for woman convicted of abusing, murdering her adopted children
by: Garrett Brown
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A woman sentenced for abusing her 12 adopted children and murdering one of them has been denied parole, according to the Tulare County District Attorney’s office.
Tuesday in a virtual hearing, prosecutors with the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office secured a denial of parole for 63-year-old Angela Thompson. Thompson is currently serving a life sentence for a 2000 child abuse death. The denial is for three years, according to the DA’s office.
At the time of the crime, Thompson had 12 adopted children.
On September 7, 2000, Thompson was at urgent care appointment, when one of the children came in from the family car saying that the victim, a five-year-old girl, was not breathing.
A hospital staff member rushed the girl to a hospital, but doctors were unable to revive the girl. At the hospital, it was observed that the girl had a 105-degree temperature and exhibited multiple signs of extreme child abuse, including scarring consistent with restraining devices, burn scarring from hot liquid, multiple bone fractures, and physical signs of severe sexual abuse, according to reports.
The DA’s office says two of the children came forward to report further abuse, although they were initially hesitant out of fear of Thompson.
The children reported that on the day of the incident, Thompson ordered a 17-year-old to sit on the victim’s back during a 4 to 5-hour car ride from Travis Air Force Base to Porterville. The victim screamed and cried during the entirety of the trip, and was not given water by Thompson, according to reports from the DA’s office.
The children’s story, along with medical evidence, led doctors to declare the cause of death as positional asphyxiation.
Prior to the incident, in late 1999, it was reported that the child victim was hospitalized for a skull fracture, after an alleged fall from a bunk bed. In a later review, a neurosurgeon determined that the injury had a high probability of having been inflicted.
Further investigation into Thompson revealed an alleged pattern of abuse against her adopted children, according to officials. The DA’s office says that some of the abusive acts were given nicknames.
Allegedly ‘crying’ meant putting a plastic bag over a child’s face. “Gurgled” meant force-feeding by Thompson where she would use rubber gloves to shove food down the children’s throats when they would not eat fast enough. ‘Plunging’ meant putting the children in a bathtub with their faces under a running faucet. ‘Poking’ involved being poked on the hands, feet, underarms, mouth, gums, ear, or lips with a needle or safety pin. All of this is according to reports by the DA’s office.
The alleged abuse involved spankings with belts or spoons or hitting the kneecaps with a rod.
In Oct. 2001, a jury convicted Thompson of second-degree murder, assault on a child likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and child abuse. Thompson was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
“This child’s murder was horrific and impacted everyone in this office in a profound way. Once again, I commend the efforts of all staff for taking a stance for victims and being a voice for those who lost theirs. This office will continue to oppose these releases,” Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward said.